Sidney Poitier

Awards & Honours

Awards Won

Honours

Rankings

Covers

Records

Poitier's career was defined by historic firsts. He was the first Black actor to win the competitive Academy Award for Best Actor, a milestone that resonated far beyond Hollywood. In 1968 he became the first Black actor to be the number one box office star in the United States. He was also the first Black actor to win the Venice Film Festival award for Best Actor, for Something of Value (1957). His insistence on dignified roles and his refusal to accept demeaning parts set a new standard for Black performers. The New York Times' Vincent Canby famously wrote, Poitier does not make movies, he makes milestones. His three 1967 films, To Sir, With Love, In the Heat of the Night, and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, each tackled race relations in America and remain cultural touchstones.

AwardsPoitier won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Lilies of the Field (1964), the first Black actor to win a competitive Oscar for a leading role. He also received an Honorary Academy Award in 2002. He won the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement, the BAFTA Fellowship, and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. He received multiple NAACP Image Awards and a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album. In 1995 he was honored with the Kennedy Center Honor.

Honours & Distinctions

Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE)

Queen Elizabeth II·1974

Awarded honorary knighthood for his contributions to the arts.

Presidential Medal of Freedom

President Barack Obama·2009

The highest civilian honor in the United States.

American Academy of Achievement Gold Medal

American Academy of Achievement·2014

Presented by Oprah Winfrey.

The Sidney Poitier New American Film School

Arizona State University·2020

Film school named in his honor.

Rankings & Lists

Number one box office star in the United States

Quigley Publishing·1968

#19 Hero

AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains

American Film Institute·2003

Magazine Covers

Time

1964-04-24

Sidney Poitier: The First Black Movie Star

Life

1967-10-06

Sidney Poitier: The Man Who Changed Movies

Ebony

1968-03-01

Sidney Poitier: Hollywood's Most Bankable Star

Jet

1964-04-23

Sidney Poitier Wins Oscar

Records & Feats

First Black actor to win Academy Award for Best Actor

Historic First·1964

Won the competitive Oscar for Lilies of the Field in 1964, the first Black actor to do so.

First Black actor to become number one box office star in the U.S.

Career Milestone·1968

Named the top box office draw in 1968 by Quigley Publishing.

First Black actor to win Venice Film Festival Best Actor

Historic First·1957

Won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for Something of Value in 1957.